South Asia

China, India border disputes spark Nepal protests

While Pope Leo XIV's castigation of warmongers has so far failed to turn around the hawks in the current US administration, it has won Cameroonians a temporary reprieve from secessionist violence. To mark the pope's visit, anglophone separatist groups said they would pause their fighting and allow the free movement of people. The pontiff may have stopped short of trying to mediate the nearly decade-long conflict in the majority French-speaking country, but he did urge President Paul Biya to root out corruption—and then lashed out at foreign exploitation of the continent. Leo also returned to his spiritual feud with the US administration. "Woe to those who manipulate religion and the very name of God for their own military, economic and political gain, dragging that which is sacred into darkness and filth," he told a gathering at Saint Joseph Cathedral in the city of Bamenda, within the conflicted region. (Photo: Jesuit Historical Institute in Africa)

South Asia

India: high court rules for Hindus in Ayodhya dispute

The World Food Programme (WFP) warned that the escalating hostilities in the Middle East could lead to record levels of food insecurity, and the largest disruption in the global economy and humanitarian efforts since the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to the heavy reliance of food and aid distribution on energy, the skyrocketing price of oil has placed heightened strain on already vulnerable aid supply lines. WFP chief operating officer Carl Skau said: "If this conflict continues, it will send shockwaves across the globe, and families who already cannot afford their next meal will be hit the hardest." Skau urged the international community to mount an adequately funded humanitarian response. Sudan and Somalia were named as particularly vulnerable. (Photo: Alex Blokha via Wikimedia Commons)

South Asia

India detains Tibetan activists ahead of Xi visit

With his Christmas air-strikes on Nigeria, Trump is blundering into a conflict fundamentally driven by desertification related to the very climate change that he denies, and which now threatens democratic rule throughout the West African region. And while the Muslim-Christian sectarian strife that Trump hypes is a large element of the situation, the violence has gone both ways. Furthermore, making Christians the perceived beneficiaries of imperialist intervention is only likely to exacerbate the tensions and make Christians more of a target. In Episode 310 of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg takes an in-depth and unsparing look. (Photo: AFRICOM via Long War Journal)

South Asia

Death of water activist sparks Bangladesh protests

Amnesty International urged all states to prevent the Portuguese-flagged Holger G vessel, carrying munition components bound for Israel, from docking at their ports. Having departed from India in November, the cargo is destined for Israel's biggest arms manufacturer, Elbit Systems, and its subsidiary IMI Systems. Erika Guevara Rosas, senior director for research and campaigns at Amnesty, said: "The hundreds of tonnes of deadly cargo on board the Holger G must not reach Israel. There is a clear risk that this colossal transportation would contribute to the commission of genocide and other crimes under international law against Palestinians." (Photo: VesselFinder)

South Asia

Podcast: against Narendra Modi’s Gandhi-exploitation

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) announced a state of emergency following a wave of coups and attempted coups that have struck several member states of the regional bloc. The declaration was made during the 55th session of the ECOWAS Security Council in Abuja, Nigeria, by the president of the bloc, Gambian diplomat Omar Touray. Since 2020, several military coups d'etat have taken place in West Africa, including Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Guinea and Guinea-Bissau. A coup attempt was launched days before the ECOWAS declaration in Benin, but was thwarted by Nigerian military intervention. A regional crisis is driven by armed insurgencies, economic hardship, and weak institutions, creating viable ground for military rule. (Map: World Sites Atlas)

South Asia

Bangladesh: ‘climate of fear’ in Rohingya camps

In Episode 190 of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg revisits George Orwell's first novel, Burmese Days (1935), to see if it offers any insight into the current crisis in Burma. The novel is actually problematic in its portrayal of the Burmese, but Orwell's anti-colonialist views are better articulated in his little-known 1929 essay "How a Nation is Exploited: The British Empire in Burma." Ironically, the factors he identified as necessitating "despotic" rule by the British in Burma still mandate dictatorial methods by the regime today—such as the imperative to pacify "frontier areas" where indigenous peoples wage pro-autonomy insurgencies. Listen on SoundCloud or via Patreon. (Image via eBay)

Central Asia

India, China mirror each other in Islamophobia

Regional NGO alliance the People's Coalition for the Sahel is demanding the immediate return alive of human rights defender Daouda Diallo, secretary general of Burkina Faso's Collective Against Impunity & Stigmatization of Communities (CISC). The CISC announced that Diallo was abducted on a Ouagadougo street by at least four unidentified men in civilian clothes. Diallo's CISC has been riasing the alarm about ethnically targeted killings in Burkina Faso under the military regimes that have been in power since a January 2022 coup. It is believed Diallo may have been "requisitioned" by the armed forces to participate in the very counterinsurgency campaign that his group has been protesting. (Image: CISC via OHCR)

South Asia

Muslims face mass detention in India’s Assam

The DC-based Syrian Emergency Task Force condemned the unlawful detention, torture and abuse of Syrian refugees in Lebanon, which it says has resulted in at least 40 deaths. Since 2014, Hezbollah and complicit Lebanese forces have arrested hundreds of Syrian refugees—particularly supporters of the Syrian Revolution—and sentenced them in unfair military trials, despite repatriation efforts by Syria's new government. Many are tried before Lebanon's Military Court for belonging to "terrorist groups"—a reference to rebels fighting the former dictatorship of Bashar Assad, in Syria not Lebanon. (Photo via Facebook)

South Asia

Militarization as Delhi prepares to dismantle Kashmir

India's government has flooded the northern state of Jammu & Kashmir with troops and cut off internet access upon announcing the revocation of its constitutionally protected autonomy, and plans to divide the disputed territory into two new political entities with reduced power. Article 370 of India's constitution grants Jammu & Kashmir a high degree of autonomy, a concession to the demands of the territory's Muslim majority, many of whom favor independence or union with Pakistan. In addition to abrogating Article 370, Delhi announced plans for a bill to divide India-controlled Kashmir into two "union territories," which have less powers of self-government than states. A reduced Jammu & Kashmir Union territory would continue, at least, to have a legislature. But it would be separated from the Buddhist-majority region of Ladakh, which is to become its own union territory, without a legislature. Complicating matters further is that the populace of Ladakh itself is divided along sectarian and regional lines. News of the plan to separate Ladakh from Jammu & Kashmir was met with jubilation in the principal Buddhist town of Leh, but with foreboding in Kargil, an enclave within Ladakh inhabited by Ismaili Muslims. (Map via Wikipedia)

South Asia

Nepal blasts: bid to reboot Maoist insurgency

Reporters Without Borders called on the Chinese government to immediately release Liu Hanbin, a blogger who was detained following his publication of information regarding a protest against forced land seizures. Liu, who blogs under the name Wen Yi Fan, was taken into custody after he posted a video on social media platform WeChat reporting on a protest by farmers in a rural area of Inner Mongolia province against land confiscations by government officials. The protest was met with a swift response from local authorities, leading to Liu's arrest. The 52-year-old blogger has been charged with "picking quarrels and provoking trouble," an offense punishable by up to five years in prison. (Photo of Hulunbuir Grasslands, Inner Mongolia. Credit: Sergio Tittarini via Wikimedia Commons)

South Asia

Sri Lanka dissidents reject Buddhist fascism

The Nicaraguan Human Rights Collective "Nunca Más" issued a report charging that at least 229 individuals detained in the country for political reasons have endured various forms of torture and other acts that could be classified as "crimes against humanity" over the past seven years. The report documents claims of physical and psychological torture, arbitrary detention, forced disappearances, and other severe human rights violations committed by the Nicaraguan government. The victims, identified as individuals who were arrested during anti-government protests and in connection with opposition activities, have reportedly faced beatings, sexual violence, and prolonged solitary confinement. (Image: Nunca Más)

South Asia

Pakistan: Taliban target Sufi shrine —again

Once-time peacenik icon Tulsi Gabbard has joined Robert F. Kennedy Jr in defecting to the now openly fascist and even Nazi-embracing MAGA camp—actually becoming members of the Trump transition team. Meanwhile, the Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein, likewise enamoured of Vladimir Putin and the dictators in his orbit (including mass murderer Bashar Assad), is being represented by a former Trump attorney in her bid to get on the ballot in swing state Nevada. Beyond the threat that she could serve as a spoiler and throw the election to Trump, this raises questions about the cooptation of segments of the American left by MAGA-fascism. It is no longer just the old-school sectarian "tankie" left that's in danger of taking the fascist lure in a Red-Brown alliance, but the pacifist, cannabis-friendly "green" left as well. In Episode 244 of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg raises the alarm. Listen on SoundCloud, and support our podcast via Patreon. (Image via Freedom Leaf)